KEN BENNETT takes to the water to get the best out of a trip to the magnificent Lake District.

SETTLING back on the oars of my rowboat, I decide this really is the very best way to savour every last drop of a serene journey to England's most magnificent lake.

I am cocooned by majestic mountains and dark green fells cascading to the edge of Lake Windermere's rippling waters.

Here, if only for one totally self-indulgent hour, all is peace. Cars, yes there are scores of them somewhere out there scrabbling along the narrow, winding lakeside roads, seem a distance memory.

Because to really appreciate and absorb the sheer beauty and daunting scale of the lake itself, you simply must take to the water.

Earlier on my break, I had spent more than 12 hours prowling up, down, around and across Windermere from Waterhead, which lips the lake from my base at Ambleside.

Then, from the comfort of the Windermere Lake Cruises, I called in at Brockhole, Bowness and Lakeside. Bright, bustling, busy places full of pretty ice cream parlours, coffee lounges and tiny shopping arcades.

At just £12 a head, a Freedom of the Lake ticket (£6 for children), was my personal passport to travel by traditional steamer or launch, stopping off at my leisure to sample some of the true, holidaymaking atmosphere.

There are, of course, the dedicated hard core walkers and campers and then there are the trillions of day-trippers who sweep into town snaffling food and souvenirs before vanishing in cars, coaches and trains.

However, the more discerning holidaymaker knows that the best way to enjoy the Lake District is to slow down.

That's why I was glad I chose the luxury Waterhead Hotel, just a stone's skip from the edge of Windermere.

After a three-course gourmet dinner and fortified by a couple of pints of locally brewed ale, off I trundled to share some quality time in the comparative wilderness.

The Lake District National Park Visitor Centre at Brockhole and the Aquarium of the Lakes at appropriately named Lakeside, are must visits.

The aquarium features more than 30 naturally themed habitats - giving visitors an intriguing insight as to what actually lies beneath the surface of the lakes themselves - including sharks and rays from nearby Morecambe Bay.

It is educational, but equally importantly, fun.

For £15.70 return, adults can board the ferry from Ambleside to Lakeside including entry into the aquarium. Children pay £8.90.

And, keeping families in mind, make sure to visit to The World of Beatrix Potter at Bowness, with ferry and entry a snip at £9.75 for adults, £5.35 for children.

The museum captures the magic of the tales with its larger than life models, appropriate sounds and smells.

But now I am out on the lake itself. Away from all fables, the holidaymakers and tea rooms. Sheer bliss.

FACT FILE

* Two nights or more at the Waterhead Hotel, including a three-course dinner and full Lakeland breakfast, costs from £93 a person, a night, Sunday to Thursday, in a House Room; up to £113 for a Studio Lake View Room, rising to £99 and £119 respectively on a Friday, Saturday or Bank Holiday Sunday. Midweek bed and breakfast is £78 to £98, or £85 to £105 at weekends.

A three- course meal at the hotel is £30 a head. For more information visit www.elh.co.uk; or ring 01539 432566.

* To obtain a holiday brochure, call08705 133059.or click on www.golakes.co.uk

* To travel to Ambleside by road, take junction 36 off the M6 onto the A590 and the A591, continuing on this road past Windermere Village, following the signs for the village.

The £6 it had cost to hire my little craft for sixty, precious minutes was truly money well spent. I vow to return again - very soon.